Stopping Israel
Israel and its allies cannot hold back the struggle for democracy, human rights, and self-determination for much longer.
Israel and its allies cannot hold back the struggle for democracy, human rights, and self-determination for much longer.

The tragic scenes unfolding in Palestine and Israel are a chilling reminder of the horrors that occupation creates — and the urgency of dismantling Israel’s blockades and apartheid system.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The hostile response to the warrants from Israel’s Western allies is a calculated assault on international law.

It is difficult to imagine a future in the region beyond the horrors of genocide and displacement that does not involve the Israeli state, supported by a large majority of its Jewish citizens, facing accountability.

For the first time ever, polls show more Americans support Palestine than Israel. The unwavering fealty to Israel of the Democratic Party and a range of other American institutions can’t last forever.

The Palestinian general strike of May 18 fits into a much longer history of mobilization by Palestinian workers. From the British colonial years to the present, those struggles have faced harsh repression, but kept a spirit of resistance alive.

The Western media discourse gets it all wrong. Israel is not at risk of becoming an apartheid state — it already is one.

After October 7, Israel embarked on an unprecedented massacre. The new book 10/7 — with an afterword by novelist Joshua Cohen — longs for the moment when it was Israel that had the world’s sympathy.

It is a mistake to think that Benjamin Netanyahu is solely responsible for Israel’s genocide or that removing him would bring it to an end. To win support for war, he has mobilized large swathes of Israeli society, from liberals to the far right.
New applications and mobile services for Palestinians are being called liberatory. But they’re more a way for capitalists to profit from occupation.

Reeling from the ICJ’s genocide ruling, Israel attacked the credibility of UNRWA, the UN agency that provides food and health care to Palestinian refugees. Now Joe Biden and other Western leaders are cutting funding for the vital humanitarian aid agency.
The Oslo Accords weren’t a failure for Israel — they served as a fig leaf to consolidate and deepen its control over Palestinian life.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s fiery statements condemning Israel may seem bold, but Turkey's trade relations with Israel tell a different story. In the end, Erdoğan’s bluster is a cynical attempt to shore up eroding support among his base.

Writing in Jacobin, Ecuador’s former foreign minister under Rafael Correa analyzes the cracks in Israel’s international standing that seem to be emerging — even in the United States.

Benjamin Netanyahu is not deterred by diplomatic tough talk behind closed doors. The only thing that can defeat him politically is the end of the war itself — something the United States has the power to make happen.

The United States government regularly decries authoritarian press crackdowns around the world. Yet that same government gives billions to Israel as it makes no attempt to hide its policy of killing journalists.

Openly racist attitudes to the Palestinian people are pervasive in the European and American political mainstream, from the liberal center to the far right. This form of bigotry is a gateway through which old-fashioned colonial racism can gain new legitimacy.

Last month, the International Court of Justice issued a damning assessment of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and the apartheid system it has built. All states now have a clear obligation to impose sanctions on Israel until the occupation ends.

Journalist Gideon Levy is one of the most articulate critics of Israeli war and apartheid. He spoke to Jacobin about the grim pro-war mood in Israel and the need for international pressure to end its apartheid system.